PHILADELPHIA — Jimmy Rollins was due. Quiet is not usually a word associated with the Phillies’ sparkplug, but his bat had mustered just a few whispers in the first seven games of this postseason.
That all changed last night.
Rollins delivered a two-out, two-run, game-winning double in the bottom of the ninth to send the Phillies to a rollicking, 5-4 victory over the Dodgers in Game 4 of the NLDS and a commanding 3-1 series lead.
The Phils can close the series out at home tomorrow night in Game 5 with Cole Hamels on the mound.
“This is big,” Rollins said. “The pressure’s all on them.”
Dodgers closer Jonathan Broxton got into trouble in the ninth, clinging to a 4-3 lead. He walked pinch-hitter Matt Stairs, who was replaced by pinch runner Eric Bruntlett. He then hit Carlos Ruiz with a pitch to put men on first and second. After getting a soft liner from Gregg Dobbs for the second out, Rollins stepped into the batter’s box.
The crowd of 46,157 waited with anticipation for their shortstop to come up big, and he did.
Rollins entered last night’s game batting .212 with one RBI in the playoffs. He took a 1-1, 99-mph fastball from Broxton and drilled it to the right-center field gap. Bruntlett and Ruiz raced around to score, and the Phillies mobbed Rollins at third base.
“I’m all right. I had to curl up in the fetal position and throw some punches of my own,” Rollins said.
While Rollins has had few hits this postseason, he’s had some big ones, getting two rally starters in the NLDS against Huston Street. That led to last night.
“He likes the moment,” Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. “He wants to be there. He can control his adrenaline and control the moment. The bigger stage, the better he likes to play.”
The comeback was similar to last year’s NLCS Game 4 when the Phillies scored four runs in the eighth inning to win 7-5. Stairs had a two-run homer off Broxton in that game.
The Dodgers showed some life in the game, a night after getting blown out 11-0. Starter Randy Wolf kept the Phillies off balance for 5 1/3 innings, then turned it over to his bullpen. The trio of Ronald Bellisario, Hong-Chi Kuo and George Sherrill kept them in front, but Broxton became the latest closer to fold under the October pressure.
“We’re going to show up here day after tomorrow, there’s no question,” Dodgers manager Joe Torre said. “They’ll be ready to play. It’s obviously a tough one to get past, but you know, that’s our job. They still have to win four games.”
The Dodgers took a 3-2 lead in the fifth on Matt Kemp’s solo home run. The Dodgers center fielder drilled a 2-0 fastball from Joe Blanton over a leaping Shane Victorino into the hedges in center field.
Casey Blake pushed the lead to two runs with an RBI single to right field in the sixth inning that scored Manny Ramirez, but the Phils drew within a Run, at 4-3, in the bottom of the inning.
